Echoes 1: Red To Black
by Higuchimon
Summary: [alternate timeline] Juudai's always won before and it always fixed everything. But now that he's won and it's fixed nothing, what can he do?
1. I Don't Know

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX  
**Title:** Red To Black: Chapter 1: I Don't Know  
**Characters:** Juudai  
**Word Count:** chapter: 1,025||story: 1,025  
**Genre:** Drama, Angst||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX Non-Flash Bingo; Diversity Challenge, section I, #19, a multichap with chapters between 1000-2000 words  
**Notes:** This begins in episode 136, just after Jim and O'Brien leave to follow Shou. Juudai's mind hasn't fractured into Juudai &amp; Haou _yet_. This will be a retelling of how he came to power.  
**Summary:** [1/15 chapters, Juudai, GX Non-Flash Bingo &amp; Diversity Challenge] Juudai's always won before and it always fixed everything. But now that he's won and it's fixed nothing, what can he do?

* * *

Whispered voices reached to Juudai, murmurs of fear and panic, followed by footsteps, first quiet, careful movements, ones designed not to draw attention, and when that appeared to work, as he didn't look up at all, more hurried ones, replaced seconds later by all out running.

When he did look up, he was the only person in the arena. Brron's arena. Where they'd died. Where he'd failed to save them.

His heart twisted and Juudai found he couldn't even begin to stand up. He wanted to. He wanted to _do something_, but he had no idea of what that something might be.

Maybe doing something wasn't the right phrase. He wanted to _undo_ everything. He wanted to go back to how everything had been a week ago. A month ago. A year ago. Two years ago. Back to before he'd knew there were worlds where people could _die from dueling_, before his friends had died because of him.

Before he'd remembered Yubel and the pain that he'd caused.

All his fault. He couldn't turn away from it, no matter how much he wanted to rewind time and let this all have not happened. If he hadn't sent Yubel into space, then Yubel wouldn't have become this evil monstrous creature that wanted revenge on him.

He stared down at his hands, seeing his duel disk on his arm as well. Perhaps if he'd never dueled this wouldn't have happened? The thought of giving it up sang to him in a sweet siren song.

No. No matter how much he wanted to, that wouldn't change anything. It wouldn't bring back his friends. Not dueling would only mean that he would die, and in a manner far more painful than his friends.

If that would bring them back, then he would do it. But it wouldn't. Nothing could bring them back. The thought ran around in his head like some kind of trapped mouse. He would do anything, but the one thing he could do, winning the duel against Brron, hadn't done anything.

Always before when he'd won a duel, whatever was wrong had _stopped_. He'd won against Darkness and released Fubuki-san. He'd won against Camula and Kaiser and Chronos-sensei had been released. He'd won against Abidos and given him what he wanted. He'd won against Daitokuji-sensei and freed Manjoume, Fubuki-san, and Asuka. He'd won against Kagemaru and saved all the duel spirits. He'd won against Edo and helped him have fun in dueling again. He'd won against Saiou and saved the entire world from the Light of Ruin.

But now he'd won against Brron and _nothing changed_. The people he'd lost hadn't returned. They couldn't return. They weren't trapped or sealed up somewhere. They were gone. Dead. No one came back from being dead.

Tears splashed down on his hands and he could feel his throat closing up with sobs. If he'd believed any kind of God was watching, he would've thanked them for the arena being gone. He didn't want anyone, least of all an army of evil monsters, seeing him break down like this.

Something else caught his eye, just a short distance away, within the reach of his hand. He rubbed the tears out of his eyes and stared at it.

_Super Fusion?_ That was...the card Brron had boasted about, the one that...that...

His heart wrenched again, but his mind coldly supplied the words he didn't want to think.

The card that his friends had died for.

Slowly he reached for the card. He'd always loved Fusion monsters, the idea of making something strong out of what looked weak. Just what was Super Fusion anyway? What kind of power could it have that would make it _worth_ killing people for? _Could_ that kind of power exist?

No. Not for him, anyway. There wasn't any kind of power that made what had happened right.

Brron had said something about fusion materials and summoning some kind of amazing monster. Juudai didn't remember all of the monsters that came from Dark World, or all of their summoning conditions.

He picked the card up and stared at it, shuddering at the feeling in his fingertips as he did. In a part of him that he hadn't acknowledged in what felt like forever, he _knew_ this card. It was almost like when he'd found the Neo-Spacians, their existence filling in a hole that he hadn't known existed until it wasn't there anymore.

"Juudai?" It was Neos. The great hero bent next to him, staring at the card. "That card...it is not of Brron's fashioning."

Juudai blinked, trying to get his voice to work. "What?"

"It comes from somewhere else. I don't know where, but not this world or Neo-Space." He frowned, staring down at it harder. "It's full power is still sealed, though."

Juudai returned his gaze to the card, and for a moment, it pulsed. In that moment, he could see writing. He'd always been quick to understand cards, when he bothered to pay attention to them. While he couldn't repeat the exact words, the essence of what it could do read clear to him now.

_Whoever plays it can fuse any monsters from their field, and use monsters from their opponent's field as materials as well. You have to discard a card to activate it, and it can't be negated by anything._

That _was_ powerful. Ideas for how to use it in battle flickered on the edges of his mind. His shoulders tensed and his eyes sparked with tears unexpectedly.

_I can't. I shouldn't even if I could. It won't work now. It's not finished._

But regardless, he slid the card into his deck. He wanted to know more about this card. He wanted to know what it could do and what he would have to do to unleash its power. Surely there was a way aside from killing his friends.

"Juudai?" Neos rested a hand on his shoulder and Juudai looked up at him. "Are you certain of what you're doing?"

Juudai managed a small, weak smile, though his lips didn't really want to do anything of the sort. "No. But I never have been."

**To Be Continued**


	2. Empty Halls

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX  
**Title:** Red To Black: Chapter 2: Empty Halls  
**Characters:** Juudai  
**Word Count:** chapter: 1,081||story: 2,106  
**Genre:** Drama, Angst||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX Non-Flash Bingo; Diversity Challenge, section I, #19, chapters between 1000-2000 words  
**Notes:** This begins in episode 136, just after Jim and O'Brien leave to follow Shou. Juudai's mind did not fracture into Juudai &amp; Haou and this will be a retelling of how he came to power. **Summary:** Juudai's always won before and it always fixed everything. But now that he's won and it's fixed nothing, what can he do?

* * *

Aside from not knowing what he was doing with Super Fusion, Juudai also had no idea of where he could go now. He glanced down to his deck; Super Fusion pulsed there, dormant but _there_. That more or less made up his mind for him. He needed to know what to do about that card.

_So, I should either ask someone or find something that can tell me._ Brron had known, but he wasn't around to ask anymore. Not that Juudai would've done a damn thing but kill him all over again if he _had_ somehow come back.

Juudai stared at the castle surrounding the arena. So far as he could tell, he was the only one there now. Unless some cook or dishwasher hadn't yet heard the news.

His shoulders prickled a little at the thought of how terrified his last duel had made everyone here. He wasn't certain if he wanted people to fear him like that...

On the other hand, it wasn't such a bad thing, really. The amount of people in this world who were actually good people, the kind of people he didn't want to fear him, could be counted on the fingers of his hands. Everyone else, he didn't care if they were afraid of him. If they were, they'd leave him alone. They'd leave the people he cared about alone.

Juudai's heart wrenched just the tiniest bit at the thought of Shou, Jim, and O'Brien. How far...

His feet moved him without conscious thought. He walked back over the bridge and outside, looking around, hoping. Would they be there, still angry, but waiting for him to join them? He hadn't listened to anything that had happened afterward, being too wrapped up in his own hurt. Now his heart lodged in his throat, hoping beyond all hope...

No one was out there. The mad dash of all of Brron's troops to get away from his killer as fast as they could obliterated any tracks that might've been left behind. He couldn't even find a trace of the Sonic Duck he'd ridden here.

No one there. No one at all. Tears pricked at Juudai's eyes and he refused to let them fall. He set his jaw and turned back to the castle. He didn't _think_ anyone was left in there, but it would be better to check and find out. There were other reasons too, as his grumbling stomach attempted to remind him. Brron couldn't do anything else to him or the people he loved, but Juudai wasn't averse to taking food from his defeated enemies.

* * *

It took him two hours to search the castle up and down. Doing do provided two finds that meant he hadn't wasted all of his time. One of those was the kitchen, where he feasted on what looked as if it had been meant to be Brron's dinner. Juudai made a good meal of it, though his appetite wasn't _completely_ what it should've been. Despite how much his stomach growled, it was hard to feast properly knowing that most of his friends were dead and the ones who weren't hated him now.

The other find was the kind of place he'd never spent too much time in: a library. There he'd spent the majority of the time he wasn't eating searching for anything and everything he could find about Super Fusion, which turned out to be almost nothing at all.

_It needs evil souls._ That was the most he could dig up, and nothing more. It didn't completely make sense to him, and he wasn't sure if that was because he didn't know nearly enough - or anything at all - about magic and the creation of cards. He was pretty certain that neither Hayato nor President Pegasus used anything like this method to create them.

He also didn't understand how his friends could be considered evil at all. They were some of the best people he'd ever met.

That stinging in his eyes came again. He ignored it again.

_He connected them to those Wicked Doctrine cards of his. I guess that qualified._ Every moment of his duel against Brron blazed in his mind, and while he didn't understand everything that happened, he knew _what_ had happened. He almost wished he could forget a few of those details.

But there wasn't anything else he could do here. Wicked souls, that was what he needed to find to bring Super Fusion into full life.

And why did he want to do that? Sure, it was powerful. He was a Fusion duelist and this card was the essence of fusion. So why did he want to know what could truly bring it into existence?

The answer presented itself, cold and clear and unyielding and twofold.

His friends _had_ died for it. This card was all that he had left of them, that and his memories and their decks and duel disks. He couldn't carry those around with him. Already in the back of his mind he knew he needed to take care of them somehow.

But if this card existed in its full power, it would be as if they were there with him again. It wouldn't be enough. It couldn't _ever_ be enough. But it might be all that he had to hold onto now.

And the other half of the answer: this world needed a ruler. Someone who could stomp out people like Brron and Zure and Scarr and all the rest, people who killed other people. People like them didn't deserve to live.

_I...I need to look around._ He hovered on the verge of that last step, not fully ready to take it yet. He needed, wanted, _had_ to know if there could be someone else who would take on the reins of power. Someone who could rule this world the way that it should be, the way that any world should be, with justice.

He wasn't going to find such a person here in Brron's empty halls. He didn't know if this world had such a person at all. So he packed up his backpack with all the portable food he could find. Who knew when he'd run across a tavern or the like, and regardless of whether he wanted to or not, he had to eat. Not eating wouldn't bring anyone back.

If it had, he would've fasted until they did return.

As ready as he could be, he set off in search of a king.

**To Be Continued**


	3. Rethinking Strategy

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX  
**Title:** Red To Black: Chapter 3: Rethinking Strategy  
**Characters:** Juudai  
**Word Count:** chapter: 1,134||story: 3,240  
**Genre:** Drama, Angst||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX Non-Flash Bingo; Diversity Challenge, section I, #19, chapters between 1000-2000 words  
**Notes:** This begins in episode 136, just after Jim and O'Brien leave to follow Shou. Juudai's mind did not fracture into Juudai &amp; Haou and this will be a retelling of how he came to power.  
**Summary:** Juudai's always won before and it always fixed everything. But now that he's won and it's fixed nothing, what can he do?

* * *

Juudai wrapped his cloak a little tighter around himself and wondered how long he wanted to stay in this place. There wasn't much to recommend it for an overnight visit. Like the dozen other taverns he'd run across in the last few days, it was dimly lit, the floor could've used a good scrubbing, and most of the patrons spent their time punching each other instead of...well, instead of doing anything actually useful with their lives.

_Like becoming part of Super Fusion._ That wasn't a thought he especially enjoyed, but the more he saw of this world and how the people here treated one another, the more often it slid to the forefront of his mind. At least if they were a part of Super Fusion, they wouldn't be beating each other up or trying to shake down random passers-by for whatever they could take out of their pockets.

He'd already had to fight three groups of monsters who thought he was easy prey for them. That was a mistake they wouldn't ever make again, as it was more than a little difficult to do so when one's soul had gone to fuel the most powerful card in existence.

More and more he wanted Super Fusion to exist in all of its proper glory. His logic on it, such logic has Juudai had ever bothered to use in his life at all, was simple. He couldn't go back to his own world. The thought of facing Rei and the Kaiser, Saiou and Edo, Principal Samejima and Tome-san, Professor Chronos, all of those who waited there, and trying to tell them that not only had he failed to rescue Johan, but he'd lost almost everyone else who came with him? Who came _after_ him in his stupid desire to do this all on his own?

No. He wouldn't go back. Couldn't. Which meant this was his world now and he had to make the best of it.

And the longer he stayed here and saw what was going on, the more he became convinced that the best thing he could do for this world was to rule it himself. He hadn't ever really liked the idea of leading anyone. People had called him the school's leader for the last year or so, looking to him during the Seven Stars' attack and when the Society of Light took over, and he'd never liked it.

_Yeah, and see what happened when you didn't do anything about the Society?_ He should've done something sooner then. He knew it. That was part of why he'd wanted to go look for Johan now, to make up for those mistakes somehow. But when that fell through...

Well, one thing was for certain, there wasn't any way he could do it like he'd done everything else in his life. That would just lead to where he'd been going up against Brron: failing to save anyone. He would have to rethink his strategies completely.

And he couldn't do that here. Not in this musty little tavern where three fights had broken out in the last half hour, most of them over ridiculous causes like 'exactly which shade is the comet' and 'who did Mmother think was the pretty one'.

He got up and headed for the door, avoiding the rolling forms as they punched one another back and forth across the room, knocking tables and chairs everywhere.

"Hey!" The call came from behind him and Juudai ignored it, focusing more on getting out. "Hey, you! In the cloak! Where do you think you're going?"

Juudai stopped. He didn't look around, one hand curling into a fist where it could not be seen. "Out." He would give them one chance not to interrupt him again.

Armor jingled as whoever it was came closer. "Well, I think you should stick around and have some fun! Haven't you had a drink yet?"

Juudai started toward the door again. "I don't want one." He hadn't had anything more than water or tea since getting here and he didn't want that to change. He'd seen some of what they served in places like this bubbling through the table.

An armored hand landed on his shoulder and he found himself jerked around to stare into a face partially shielded by something that reminded him of sunglasses. It took a moment for him to recall the proper name: Prominence Knight.

"Whoa, you're just a kid!" The warrior stared down at him for a heartbeat or two, then grinned widely. "And you're way old enough to have a few drinks! Come on!" He started to drag Juudai back through the throng of cheering monsters, most of whom still remained focused on the fights to notice what was going on.

Juudai dug his heels in, a low growl sliding between his teeth. "I said that I'm leaving." He hadn't killed anyone in this world who looked as human as Prominence Knight did. The longer this idiot kept yanking at his proverbial chain, the more the idea appealed in ways that he'd never, ever thought it would.

"Why don't you want to have fun?" The knight looked more upset than anything else. "You look like your best friend died!"

_Manjoume. Asuka. Fubuki-san. Kenzan. Johan._ Names and faces spun around in Juudai's mind, the names and faces of those he'd lost to Brron's tricks. _Shou. O'Brien. Jim. Misawa._ The four who lived but who would never look at him again without hate.

And this idiot was _making fun of that_.

Juudai threw his cloak back. Some words could only bring one action in response, and his heart bled fury and fire.

"I challenge you to a duel." Only rage. Only hate. Only anger. All of that built to a crescendo inside of him and he no longer cared that defeating this man would mean his death.

More than did not care, he _welcomed_ it. That was what someone who insulted the memory of those who'd been taken from him deserved.

Prominence Knight stared at him as he activated his duel disk. "What? Kid, did you already have something to drink? _You_ want to duel _me_?" He started to reach out, hand aiming for the top of Juudai's head. "Look, I changed my mind, go home and take a nap or something."

Juudai's hand closed around his wrist. "Can you duel?" He'd never heard his voice sound like that before. Cold. Angry. _Furious_ beyond anything he could remember feeling. He welcomed it. This idiot needed a lesson, and Juudai ached to teach it to him.

"I...kid, you don't..."

"Can. You. Duel?" He saw the duel disk on the other's arm now. He would not back down. There would be justice, and his would be the sword that brought it. "_Duel_!"

**To Be Continued**


	4. Hot Anger To Cold Judgment

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX  
**Title:** Red To Black: Chapter 4: Hot Anger To Cold Judgment  
**Characters:** Juudai  
**Word Count:** chapter: 1,063||story: 4,303  
**Genre:** Drama, Angst||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX Non-Flash Bingo; Diversity Challenge, section I, #19, chapters between 1000-2000 words  
**Notes:** This begins in episode 136, just after Jim and O'Brien leave to follow Shou. Juudai's mind did not fracture into Juudai &amp; Haou and this will be a retelling of how he came to power.  
**Summary:** Juudai's always won before and it always fixed everything. But now that he's won and it's fixed nothing, what can he do?

* * *

Fury burned through him; not to the levels that he'd experienced against Brron, but a darker sort of anger all the same. He couldn't let this go unavenged. Mockery of those who'd died to Brron's evil schemes or innocent commentary, Juudai _didn't care_. All he cared about now was putting an end to the foul tongue of the one who'd said those words.

All the others in the tavern cleared out of the way, and his rage wasn't assuaged at all by seeing them nudge each other and whisper about how long it would take Prominence Knight to finish him. No one here had come from Brron's arena. No one had seen him duel before.

They would never forget seeing it this time.

He started the duel, scanning his cards, and vaguely noting that something about them appeared different. They hadn't changed however, so he ignored that faint ghost of a shadow, and focused his attention on finishing this duel with all due speed.

"Kid, seriously, you're going to regret this," Prominence Knight told him, shaking his head even as he pulled out his cards. "At least, I hope that you will." He looked at Juudai across the far too short distance. At least in Juudai's opinion it was too short. He kept wondering what it would be like to strangle his opponent instead of dueling him. "When you calm down, we can stop the duel."

Juudai bared his teeth. It wasn't even close to a smile and no one would've ever mistaken it for one. "I would hope you know the rules of your own world. Once a duel's started, it can't be stopped."

He actually didn't know if that were true or not. There had to be exceptions, otherwise, no one could duel for _practice_. He doubted anyone dueled for fun here. But at the moment, he didn't _want_ any answer aside from the one he'd just given.

A sigh was his only answer. The betting stakes against Juudai rose higher. He stopped caring about those. They would learn the truth, if he had to burn it into each and every one of them.

In all truth, it couldn't have been called a duel. Or it might've been, but anyone who tried saying it was would've been wrong.

This was a slaughter and Juudai was the slaughterer. Prominence Knight inflicted less than two hundred points of damage by his second turn. He did not get a third.

What caught Juudai's attention more than anything else was the way that his cards looked. That alone distracted Juudai enough that the knight gained a second turn in the first place.

Fusion looked different. It worked the same; he figured that out by fusing Burst Lady and Featherman. But to his eyes, for a few passing seconds, he'd thought he'd seen a slightly different design and other words on the card.

_Dark Fusion?_ He'd never known that card before. He knew, or thought he knew, just about every kind of Fusion card there was. But that one was new. Or he'd never seen it before.

A blink or two to clear his sight put Fusion back the way it belonged and he finished the duel with heartstopping power. Prominence Knight didn't get a chance for any last words, vanishing with a pained scream that echoed off the walls.

Juudai gathered his cards back together and turned toward all the others gathered together. Not one of them looked ready to say anything at all to him. From how pale and terrified they all were, he wondered if they felt like saying anything at all, ever again.

That was fine by him. He doubted they had anything intelligent to say in the first place.

He wrapped his cloak back around himself and headed for the door. This time, no one stopped him.

* * *

He didn't know how long it was before he found a place to rest for a while. He scarcely spent a thought on Prominence Knight. What consumed all of his interest was Fusion.

Or the vague image he'd had of Dark Fusion.

Juudai stretched out, having taken refuge in a small cave, and stared down at the card. It didn't look any different now than it had all the other times he'd used it. But he did not forget what he'd seen, strange as it was.

Slowly he took his deck apart and laid out each of his fusions, staring at them with the same intent he did Fusion itself. None of them looked any different. Nor did their fusion material.

He traced one finger over Neos and wondered. _Was I just seeing things?_

It wasn't impossible, he guessed. He'd been beyond furious when it happened. He counted himself kind of lucky that he'd been able to stay focused enough to win in the first place.

Though, he had to admit, when he got mad, he didn't have to worry about losing focus. The reverse happened. He got _so_ focused he couldn't think about anything or anyone except what had ticked him off in the first place.

He brushed that away for now. This was a lot more important.

"Neos," he murmured low, knowing that the Neo-Spacian leader heard him. "Did Super Fusion do something to my deck?" This hadn't happened until after he'd put Super Fusion into the deck anyway.

For long minutes he waited for the answer, and with each passing breath, Juudai grew more and more nervous. He wanted the answer, but he didn't want it at the same time.

Then, finally, Neos spoke. "No, Juudai. Super Fusion hasn't done anything to your deck."

Juudai nodded, then began to gather up his cards again. It was too late to do much else about this, but he made up his mind. He needed to find out more about what was going on here, because even if Super Fusion hadn't done anything, then something had happened. He _knew it_. He didn't think that he'd seen things. At least not things that didn't exist.

So he wanted to find out what Dark Fusion was and what it meant for him to see it in his deck.

He'd seen smoke rising from chimneys before he'd curled up in this cave. He would go there after he rested. And he would find out what was going on with his deck.

**To Be Continued**


	5. Down Dark Trails

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX  
**Title:** Red To Black: Chapter 5: Down Dark Trails  
**Characters:** Juudai  
**Word Count:** chapter: 1,021||story: 5,324  
**Genre:** Drama, Angst||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX Non-Flash Bingo; Diversity Challenge, section I, #19, chapters between 1000-2000 words  
**Notes:** This begins in episode 136, just after Jim and O'Brien leave to follow Shou. Juudai's mind did not fracture into Juudai &amp; Haou and this will be a retelling of how he came to power.  
**Summary:** Juudai's always won before and it always fixed everything. But now that he's won and it's fixed nothing, what can he do?

* * *

The moment he set foot in the village, he knew something was off here. He could not have said what it was right off the top of his head, but something very _wrong_ slithered through his veins and made him move one hand a fraction closer to his deck.

None of the spirits in his deck reacted openly, but he could feel their readiness as easily as he felt his own. They knew it too, he understood, though they also didn't know _what_.

People moved here and there in the village street - there was only one such - and they cast furtive glances toward him as they realized he was there. None of them tried to talk to him, or would even stay still long enough for him to say anything, hurrying on their errands as if to fail to do so would bring about their own end.

"What is with them?" he muttered to himself. He hadn't been this shunned in... in ever, really. Even being an Osiris Red at the start of his first year hadn't been like this.

"Well, well, what do we have here?"

Juudai's head snapped around at the words and stared into an unfamiliar face. Not _completely_ unfamiliar, as he'd seen the card that represented this monster in duels before, but he'd never seen Vampire Lord up close and personal like this.

"A little treat for my dinner?" the vampire asked as if Juudai had said something. He reached out one pale hand and Juudai slapped it away instantly. "What's this?"

"This is me not being on your menu," Juudai declared, staring the other in the eyes defiantly. "I want to know if there are any magicians or someone who knows a lot around here. I've got some serious questions to ask them."

Vampire Lord bared his fangs. "And what would you need with someone like that?" He sneered frostily at the teenager. "You'll not be around long enough to reap the benefits of their wisdom."

Juudai raised his arm, displaying his duel disk. "If you don't answer me, then you might be the one who isn't around." He hadn't come here with intent to kill, but the more people got in his way, the more he started to think that maybe doing so wasn't a bad idea. How was he supposed to do anything if people just kept interfering? Shouldn't they know better?

Vampire Lord waved a dismissive hand. "Is that your only weapon? What foolishness."

For a moment, Juudai thought himself back facing the Light of Ruin in Saiou's body, when it had all that it wanted and dueling would've only brought it the risk of losing. Then he refocused on the task at hand. "If you're not going to duel me, then tell me where some scholar is. Someone who can help me with a real problem."

The laugh he heard reminded him far too much of Camula and didn't improve his mood in the slightest. He didn't think anything would have, in all honesty.

The longer Vampire Lord laughed, the more Juudai hated the sound of it. The more he wanted to do something about it. The more he could not just stand there and let the other mock everything he was trying to do.

All right. If that was how this monster wanted to play it. Juudai could play games too. And he was very good at them.

He didn't know if Vampire Lord breathed or not. But between one of his own breaths and the next, he darted forward and slammed the vampire against a protruding rock. He was _tired_. He was so tired of no one taking what he was doing seriously unless he killed them. He was so tired of people ignoring the simplest questions and mocking what he wanted to do, as if he were some kind of _stupid child_.

It was not fire that burned along his veins as he stared down at Vampire Lord. Fire would not have burned so hotly. The raw desire for _justice_ ignited within him.

Vampire Lord wiggled and twisted and did everything within his power to get away from Juudai and his eyes of shimmering gold. But with one hand alone, the young duelist held him there, as immovable as the stars.

"I asked a question. If you don't know the answer, then tell me that and I'll leave. But if there's someone who _can_ help me and you know it, then I want you to tell me that, and then I will leave."

Still the vampire kept trying to get away and Juudai pulled him off the rock just long enough to slam him back on it, harder. "That's all you have to do. Answer the question."

Part of Juudai wondered if his teachers would approve of this. The rest of him couldn't bring himself to care.

"Kozaky!" Vampire Lord finally spat out the name, flailing one hand down the path that led opposite to the way Juudai had entered the village. "Kozaky lives in the library in the mountains! He can help you! Or knows someone who can!"

Juudai dropped the vampire at once and stared down at him. "That wasn't so difficult now, was it?"

Vampire Lord scuttled away from him, as did everyone else in the village as Juudai turned toward them. Juudai paid them no mind at all. Vampire Lord might be useful, if he remembered his manners and how to answer questions like a civilized human...entity. Whatever. The rest of them, Juudai decided, would probably be more useful only to power up Super Fusion.

There were so many people like that here. Was that why Brron lived in this world? Not just because it was Dark World and he was of that, but because Dark World was filled with people who served no useful purpose aside from making something stronger by their death?

He hated thinking that Brron had had the right idea about anything. So he put the thought right out of his mind and continued on to the mountains. He'd never thought about meeting Kozaky before. This should be interesting.

**To Be Continued**


	6. Quiet In The Library

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX  
**Title:** Red To Black: Chapter 6: Quiet In The Library  
**Characters:** Juudai  
**Word Count:** chapter: 1,103||story: 6,427M  
**Genre:** Drama, Angst||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX Non-Flash Bingo; Diversity Challenge, section I, #19, chapters between 1000-2000 words  
**Notes:** This begins in episode 136, just after Jim and O'Brien leave to follow Shou. Juudai's mind did not fracture into Juudai &amp; Haou and this will be a retelling of how he came to power.  
**Summary:** Juudai's always won before and it always fixed everything. But now that he's won and it's fixed nothing, what can he do?

* * *

Kozaky's library wasn't an easy place to reach, at least not for ordinary people. The mountains clawed at the sky, harsh and gray and unforgiving, and Juudai could only see the shape of the building if he squinted and stared. A few shots of alcohol probably wouldn't have hurt either, he decided.

The library nestled in a cleft of the rocks, far above what most people would've considered worth climbing up to. There wasn't a trail leading there either. Juudai tilted his head back and gave it a very hard look. Most people would've decided to try for someone else, or called uselessly for Kozaky to come down to them.

Juudai wasn't going to do that. He didn't want to waste the time. He flicked Neos's card out of his deck and looked at it.

"Hey, buddy, I need a lift up there," he said, calling on his ace monster. He wondered somewhat if Neos and Flame Wingman ever argued about who was his favorite and who was his ace and which one he really liked the best.

A faint flicker of a time long ago slipped through his mind, but he pushed it away, not wanting to remember, much less think about it. That had been _very_ long ago and things were _very_ different now.

Neos appeared before him with his usual cry of battle, staring upward a heartbeat later. "Going to see Kozaky?"

Juudai really wondered what his deck could and couldn't hear. They always seemed to know what was going on around him, at least. That made it easier on some levels; he didn't have to explain things to them.

"I have to know everything I can about Super Fusion." That was all he needed to say. Neos picked him up carefully and took off, leaping from rock to rock as easily as if this were something they did every day of the week.

Juudai kept on staring up as they drew closer to the library. He could still feel Super Fusion's power in his deck, sleeping, but not out of it, not completely. Something had to be done, and more and more he knew what it was, and how he would do it, if he decided that he would.

_What else am I going to do here? I can't just do nothing._ He still couldn't imagine going back to Earth. He'd never met most of his friends' families, but he didn't have to in order to imagine the looks on their faces when he had to tell them what happened and who was responsible for it.

So he would make his life here and he reaffirmed to himself that no one else he cared about would ever die due to his actios or inactions.

If he didn't care about them, then that was entirely different, and he could only think of three who he cared about here. And they wouldn't be an issue. They wouldn't even come looking for him. They'd all made _that_ abundantly clear.

All for the better, really. If they didn't care about him, then he could get to his work, once he'd settled it completely in his mind. And for that, he needed to talk to Kozaky.

Neos set him down at the doorway to the library and turned his thoughtful gaze on him. "Be careful," was all he said before vanishing altogether. Juudai wished he remembered what it really felt like to smile. He kind of thought he would've liked to.

But first things first, and first on the list was Kozaky. He opened the door and looked inside. What met his gaze first of all were all of the books. Hundreds, thousands of them, going right to left, left to right, up to down, and down to up. Shelves that glittered and gleamed in every color of stone and wood, and each one full of books of more kinds than he'd ever known existed.

_Misawa would love this place._ He put aside the thought of bringing Misawa there. Kozaky. Super Fusion.

"Kozaky!" He called the name out as he started to move through the library, spying doors that led to other rooms as he did. He tried all of those; most of them led to rooms with even more books. He also found a bathroom, which he made use of while he was there. He would've been even happier if he could locate the kitchen, but that seemed to be a little better hidden.

Over and over he called the name, until he wondered if perhaps Vampire Lord hadn't known what he was talking about, or had lied to him on purpose, or perhaps Kozaky had stepped out.

Again he called into a new room, and this time, something called back. "Keep your voice down! This is a _library_! Don't you know about libraries?"

Juudai hadn't expected an answer so when the voice rang down from above him, he almost jumped out of his skin. He shook himself all over, then stared up at the landing the voice originated from.

"Are you Kozaky?" There had to be stairs that would lead up there. He'd seen plenty of staircases in other parts of this place. Now he spied what looked like the right set and hurried over there. "I need to talk to you if you are."

"Go away, foolish boy. I have no time for your petty questions." The other sniffed in derision. "I have far more important matters on my mind than whatever you think is important."

Juudai came to the top of the stairs and spied the blue horned demon that was Kozaky at the far end, bent over a pile of books. He took a few steps closer. "I want to know about Super Fusion. I want to know how I can create it completely."

Kozaky's laugh echoed all over the library as he turned to face Juudai. "Super Fusion? The greatest card in all of the universe? In every universe?" He laughed again, shaking his head mockingly. "Do you really think that you're capable of controlling such a card? Of even _finding_ such a card?"

Juudai swept Super Fusion out of his deck in one motion and slammed it down in front of Kozaky, his eyes sparking unknown gold.

"Can you tell me what I need to know or not?"

Silence fell, deeper and more intense than any this library had ever seen. Kozaky swallowed, all of his arrogance vanishing in a heartbeat. Slowly, he bent his head, though Juudai couldn't tell if he stared at the card or meant only to submit to Juudai himself.

"Yes, I can...Haou-sama."

**To Be Continued**


	7. His First Recruit

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX  
**Title:** Red To Black: Chapter 7: His First Recruit  
**Characters:** Juudai  
**Word Count:** chapter: 1,108||story: 7,535  
**Genre:** Drama, Angst||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX Non-Flash Bingo; Diversity Challenge, section I, #19, chapters between 1000-2000 words  
**Notes:** This begins in episode 136, just after Jim and O'Brien leave to follow Shou. Juudai's mind did not fracture into Juudai &amp; Haou and this will be a retelling of how he came to power.  
**Summary:** Juudai's always won before and it always fixed everything. But now that he's won and it's fixed nothing, what can he do?

* * *

"Super Fusion needs souls, and the souls of those who are evil are the ones that will make it come into existence faster," Kozaky said, not a shred of doubt or hesitation in his voice.

"My friends weren't evil." Juudai held no more doubt in his own tone as he stared at the scientist. Kozaky shifted back, glancing with faint bits of nervousness at Juudai.

Not at Juudai. At his eyes. Juudai ignored that, still staring at the horned creature.

"What do you mean?" Kozaky asked carefully. "What do your friends have to do with Super Fusion?"

Juudai looked at the card. He couldn't tell the different souls apart, but he still thought he could sense something different about it when he thought about his friends in particular. Something painful and deep, like a shard of something lodged in his own soul.

"I dueled Brron. He did something so that their souls went into it." He tried not to think about those last moments, of Manjoume's fierce, impassioned shouts, of the pained voices of all the others. He hated that their last thoughts of him had been so _awful_, that he'd ignored them the way that he had. And for what?

He swerved his mind away from that, too. He didn't need to get going down that road right now. "It was something called 'Wicked Doctrine'. He used four out of five of the cards and that still didn't create it properly."

Kozaky hmmed, then went over to one of the shelves and walked along it until he found the book he wanted. Bringing it back, he opened it up and paged through it. "That isn't something I've heard of often, but I do recall having heard of it. A spell?" Juudai nodded and Kozaky kept turning pages, finally stopping on a set of illustrations that brought back even more memories Juudai didn't want to have again. "Is this it?"

"Yes." Juudai hated seeing them again but he stared anyway, recalling each of his friends.

Kozaky nodded and shut the book. "That gave Super Fusion a huge boost toward existing. But it wasn't complete because, as you said, not all of the Wicked Doctrine cards were involve with it."

"How do I create it now?" He wouldn't use that last card, even if he had it. He thought that one was attached to Shou and there was no way that he would kill Shou for a card. He'd just have to do this the hard way.

Kozaky tapped taloned fingertips onto the leather bound book. "As I said. Evil souls. I do not know how many will be necessary; no one has ever tried to create Super Fusion before and the information isn't as complete as I would like. But it could take hundreds. Perhaps thousands, even."

Juudai didn't like the sound of that. To have to kill all of those people…

_This is Dark World. They don't deserve to live._ it wasn't the first time that he'd thought this since leaving Brron's arena. Everything he'd seen along the way only made it clearer to him. Everything that had happened before this as well.

_I made Yubel evil. That was my fault. If it weren't for me, my friends would still be alive._ The words sank into him, filling every tiny little chink in his heart, and his fingers tightened on the arms of his chair. _I was stupid. I shouldn't have done it._ He couldn't make up his mind just which 'it' he shouldn't have done. Probably all of them.

So. He needed to figure out what he could do about it. Super Fusion was the key; he'd made up his mind on that already. And if it took having to kill people to create Super Fusion, giving him the strength to rule this world…

To rule the world? Juudai hadn't ever wanted to do anything of that sort before. The idea now still wasn't as appealing as it could've been. But regardless, he looked the concept full in the face now, and could not bring himself to look away.

"Kozaky," he said at last, coming to a decision that wrenched him in the heart and that he knew he couldn't step away from once he got started. "I need to kill a lot of people. I need Super Fusion. I need to rule this world."

So that no one else would ever have to suffer from the mistakes that he'd made. So that no one else could ever _make_ the mistakes that he did. So that he could do everything that he could to make up for the ones that he'd already made. So he wouldn't ever make them again.

"I will help you, Haou-sama," Kozaky said at once. "And I can help you get the beginnings for an army. I know a village of fiends and spellcasters not that far from here."

Juudai nodded. It would probably be better to start with an army of the most evil beings he could find. He could weed out the weak and put them into Super Fusion, and the ones that survived would be under his watch from then on. _And if I have to kill some of them to keep the others in line, that will just help Super Fusion that much more._

His stomach twinged still at the thought of all the death ahead of him. It was for a good cause. It was something that needed to do. But he didn't look forward to it at all.

"Why do you keep calling me Haou?" Juudai mentally seized onto another question. He recalled what Birdman had mentioned before he died, about becoming Haou, but why did Kozaky use the term?

The scientist's lips curved up quickly. "There is an old legend in our world that in a time of great evil, the true Haou shall arise from the shadows and set out to bend his will upon our world. Brron insisted that he be called Haou, but no one believed that he was the one spoken of. The legend says that Haou-sama's eyes will be of gold and his power that of the deepest shadows."

Juudai blinked at that, and Kozaky's only answer was to gesture toward one of the walls. Specifically, to a mirror on that wall. Juudai looked that way and blinked again.

Eyes of shimmering gold looked back at him, a hint of distance and raw power glowing deep within them. He could feel the darkness around him, now that he turned his attention to it, and set his jaw a little firmer.

"I've got a lot to do, Kozaky. Let's get started."

**To Be Continued**


	8. Armor Makes The Warlord

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX  
**Title:** Red To Black: Chapter 8: Armor Makes The Warlord  
**Characters:** Juudai  
**Word Count:** chapter: 1,143||story: 8,678  
**Genre:** Drama, Angst||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX Non-Flash Bingo; Diversity Challenge, section I, #19, chapters between 1000-2000 words  
**Notes:** This begins in episode 136, just after Jim and O'Brien leave to follow Shou. Juudai's mind did not fracture into Juudai &amp; Haou and this will be a retelling of how he came to power.  
**Summary:** Juudai's always won before and it always fixed everything. But now that he's won and it's fixed nothing, what can he do?

* * *

He couldn't go out among these Duel Spirits dressed like he was from Duel Academia. None of them would take him seriously and above all else, Juudai knew that he _needed_ them all to take him seriously for this. He needed something that would terrify them so they would obey him.

People listened when they were scared. People didn't hurt other people when they were scared. Juudai was more than ready to use that to his advantage.

Kozaky wasn't going to be any help on this, though. All he knew was information about facts and figures, not how to scare the living hell out of large groups of people. So Juudai knew he'd have to figure this one out all on his own.

He glanced at his deck; maybe not entirely on his own.

"What do you guys think?" he asked, curling himself up in a window seat in the library. Kozaky was off somewhere getting things arranged for his first visit to that village. It was up to Juudai to be ready by the time he got back. "Any good ideas?"

Hane Kuriboh appeared above him, trilling softly. He had no answers, only worry about what Juudai had in mind. Juudai reached up to run his fingers through soft fur.

"Hey, I know what I'm doing. I can't be a kid forever, right?" He'd wanted to be. He really had. But he just couldn't. He had to start thinking about other people. It was kind of like what Satou-sensei had told him. Other people listened to him. So he better start telling them the right things.

Despite having a mostly featureless face, Neos still managed to convey being worried when he showed up. "Juudai, do you truly believe that this is the right thing for you to do?"

"What else can I do?" Juudai countered with another question. He didn't want to go into the details of how he'd screwed up. They'd all been there. They knew. They might not agree that he had, but this time he wasn't going to back down. He needed their support and if he didn't get it…

Well, he honestly didn't know what he'd do, but he needed it anyway, and it had to start here.

He stared at his deck some more, somewhat aware that Neos hadn't vanished, but remained near him, as deep in thought as he'd ever seen the warrior.

_Warrior..._ The word tugged at his mind and he frowned. They'd called him a dueling warrior here. They called everyone who could duel warriors. So, he was a warrior himself. He couldn't argue with the description, though it wasn't how he would've thought to call himself. But now something about it appeared as the answer to his worry.

Warriors. Warriors wore armor. Some of them wore _very scary_ armor, the kind that nothing could penetrate. Not swords or spears or any other kind of weapon.

Armor. That could be what he needed. It made sense; he needed a different look, and ordinary clothes wouldn't do it at all. So, armor really did seem to be the next best step.

And after that, what kind of armor? Dark and scary seemed the best, but he needed details. He needed to have this done _right_.

Something else tickled in the very back of his thoughts. An image that he couldn't remember having ever seen before, but it felt familiar all the same. He leaned back and closed his eyes, hoping that he could get a better view of it if he wasn't actually thinking about it.

Slowly the image formed in his mind, becoming clearer and clearer. Black. He was certain of that right away. Black and with lots of spikes. Not everywhere, but where they were necessary, and if he thought about this armor without the spikes – well, it didn't look _worse_, but it wasn't the image he wanted, either.

He kind of wished Fubuki-san were there to give his advice. Though if Fubuki-san _had_ been there, Juudai wondered if he'd even be able to do this at all.

Juudai set his jaw harder. No. He wasn't going to let himself go wandering down _that_ path. He had to do this. There was literally nothing else in this world or any other that he _could_ do. Just like with Brron, only easier, because he'd already lost everything that mattered to him and he knew he'd never get any of it back.

So. Black armor. Spikes. He poked at the image in his head a little and wondered how he could make it. Did they have armorers here who might be able to do it? Or...maybe…

He imagined. He imagined the armor all around himself, light enough so he could move without it weighing him down, but protective enough so that if anyone tried to attack him, the armor would turn it aside. It would protect him from everything and everyone.

It would conceal him from everyone. With the faceplate down, no one could look at him and know who he was. Most of the people who would recognize him here would already be scared of him because of what happened in Brron's arena, but this was a chance he knew that he didn't want to take.

A few people feared Yuuki Juudai for what he had done. He made up his mind in that moment that this entire world would fear Haou, for what he _would do_.

The more he imagined, the more he could feel it wrapping around him. When he moved, he could feel the heavy weight of the metal moving with him. He flexed his hands and he could feel the gauntlets around them.

Slowly, carefully, Juudai opened his eyes. Nothing in the library seemed to have changed at all. He frowned, wondering what he'd done wrong. He needed this armor, and he'd thought it was real. He'd always gone on his instincts and he'd been so convinced that if he just _wanted_ it badly enough, then…

"Haou-sama?" Kozaky's voice rang out and the blue demon himself appeared a heartbeat later, coming from around a corner. "I've made all of the arrangements. We can go when - " He stopped in his tracks and stared. "Who - "

Juudai didn't know what his problem was. He started to ask, when he looked down at himself and saw cool black armor wrapped all around him. He ran the armored fingers of his right hand over his left and smiled. He didn't think it would have been a smile that other people would have liked to see.

"Kozaky." He lifted his faceplate as he spoke, and the scientist stared. "You said everything is ready?"

Kozaky dropped down to one knee. "Yes, Haou-sama," he murmured, voice full of awe. "We're ready."

_This world isn't ready for me,_ Juudai thought. _But it's getting me anyway._

**To Be Continued**


	9. To Choose The Dark

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX  
**Title:** Red To Black: Chapter 9: To Choose The Dark  
**Characters:** Juudai  
**Word Count:** chapter: 1,092||story: 9,770  
**Genre:** Drama, Angst||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX Non-Flash Bingo; Diversity Challenge, section I, #19, chapters between 1000-2000 words  
**Notes:** This begins in episode 136, just after Jim and O'Brien leave to follow Shou. Juudai's mind did not fracture into Juudai &amp; Haou and this will be a retelling of how he came to power.  
**Summary:** Juudai's always won before and it always fixed everything. But now that he's won and it's fixed nothing, what can he do?

* * *

It really wasn't that much of a village. In all honesty, it wasn't even a collection of huts, though it looked sturdier than such would. If one could call a settlement in a cave system sturdier, that was. Juudai knew next to nothing about architecture or why someone would choose to settle in any given area, but he guessed that the caves provided enough so that the demons and magicians here were satisfied with it.

Stretching out in front of the cave system was a small collection of booths and stands made of woven tree branches and tall study grasses, where people stood or sat according to their desires, working on whatever tasks they had at hand. It didn't give the feel of a marketplace, but rather a working area of some kind.

Whatever it was, Kozaky strode out into the center of it and cleared his throat in the most ostentatious manner he could manage, which was very much indeed.

"Attention, everyone! I bring to you great tidings!"

Very few of the people looked up from their work. Kozaky growled and stomped one foot in fury.

"I bring to you _Haou-sama_!"

A few of the people who'd looked up now looked back to their work. Kozaky whirled toward Juudai.

"Haou-sama!" A world of pleading rang in his voice. Juudai realized that Kozaky wanted people to realize what he'd done, to recognize him for having found Juudai himself.

Well, it wouldn't be that hard to manage. He took a step forward. The armor still remained as light as air around him. He wasn't sure where all the spikes came from or what their purpose was, but from the way people stopped and stared as they got a good look at them, the one function he knew they were there for – to scare people – worked out just fine.

He didn't bother to clear his throat. He simply turned to look at all of them, and no one dared to move an inch.

He'd never been any good at talking to people when it really mattered. He could make a speech when he dueled, and especially if it dealt with dueling, but right now, he realized that his mind was blank.

A loud, raucous laugh came from the direction of the caves, and everyone turned that way. Who – or what - strode that way seemed more pale shadow than anything else. Juudai hadn't ever seen such a creature before, but all of the locals bent their heads, murmuring words that he caught with some effort.

_Illusion Snatch._ Whatever that meant.

Juudai lifted his head and faced the newcomer. "And you would be?" He kept his voice as low and neutral as he could. No matter how powerful this creature was, he was stronger. The warriors in his deck would always stand by him, no matter what.

"I am Illusion Snatch, leader of this village, lord and master here. What do you think you're doing here interrupting my people's work?"

"Recruiting them, and you, into my army," Juudai replied without hesitation. The words fell naturally from his lips and he steeled himself to continue. "I intend to rule this world."

Illusion Snatch gave him a long, steady look, then threw his head back and howled with laughter yet again. "Do you know how many people I've heard that from? And most of them bigger and stronger than you are, whoever you are under that armor."

Juudai didn't let him get another word out. Furious flames lit under his skin and with little more than a thought, he called his new duel disk into being. Just like his armor it was black and covered in spikes, slots buzzing outward as if the duel disk itself wanted to kill someone.

_I think I like that._ Oh, he did indeed.

"Duel me." All emotion drained from his voice as he spoke. This was not just to prove who was the strongest, though it would go a long way toward doing that. This was an affront to his authority, and while said authority was still new and tentative, Juudai would not let it go unchallenged.

"Do you really think you can do that?" Illusion Snatch did not have a visible mouth but he smirked nevertheless. "Can you fight me?"

Juudai didn't deign to respond. He simply waited to see what his opponent's first move would be.

Illusion Snatch shook his head. "On your head be it, child." His own duel disk appeared and he drew his cards. "As the senior duelist here, I'll take the first turn."

That was fine with Juudai. He glanced at his own cards and tensed, glad now that his helmet concealed his own features.

Once again he saw a card that should not have been in his deck. It wasn't Super Fusion; that rested comfortably at the bottom, sleeping and would not answer his call until it awoke in its entirety.

Dark Fusion once again lay in his hand, and he did not know why. He'd been distracted by learning about Super Fusion and hadn't bothered to ask Kozaky about this.

He could see the text clearly this time, and he read it before it could change or fade away. _A fusion for fiends? But I don't have any fiends I can fuse._ A vague whisper of a thought flickered through his mind, of mismatched eyes, but he shoved that away without even giving it time to form.

What could a dark fusion do to his heroes? Would it be worth doing?

Illusion Snatch didn't give him time to think about it. His first strike involved two cards dealing Juudai direct damage, halving Juudai's life points in a matter of seconds.

"I won't go easy on you, "Haou-sama"," Illusion Snatch taunted, his tone making a mockery of the words. "You'll die like anyone else when you lose a duel in this world."

Juudai's fingers tensed on the cards. "And so will you." He knew he could win this duel without using Dark Fusion and whatever the resulting monsters were. But he _wanted_ to use it. He knew that he _needed_ to use it. This battle was to take the first steps to establish his dominance over this world and he would win.

"I fuse Elemental Hero Burst Lady and Elemental Hero Featherman from my hand, using Dark Fusion!" He let his instincts guide him on the next words, for he'd never done this, and did not know what was coming, other than it was what _needed_ to happen. "I summon _Evil Hero Inferno Wing_!"

**To Be Continued**


	10. Supreme Victory

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX  
**Title:** Red To Black: Chapter 10: Supreme Victory  
**Characters:** Juudai  
**Word Count:** chapter: 1,030||story: 10,800  
**Genre:** Drama, Angst||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX Non-Flash Bingo; Diversity Challenge, section I, #19, chapters between 1000-2000 word  
**Notes:** This begins in episode 136, just after Jim and O'Brien leave to follow Shou. Juudai's mind did not fracture into Juudai &amp; Haou and this will be a retelling of how he came to power.  
**Summary:** Juudai's always won before and it always fixed everything. But now that he's won and it's fixed nothing, what can he do?

* * *

Her laugh trilled and danced around, a spray of dark diamonds against black velvet. Black demon's wings rose from her shoulders, while large claws graced her hands. She neither looked nor sounded like Flame Wingman or Phoenix Guy.

But Juudai found her beautiful. He found her powerful. He found she was just what he needed in this battle.

Illusion Snatch had summoned a defense monster after halving Juudai's life points with his effect damage. Juudai looked at where Millennium Shield, with three thousand defense points, hovered before Illusion Snatch. It would be almost impossible for any normal attack to get through it, especially with a freshly summoned monster.

Juudai liked a challenge. Especially when he saw the answer to the challenge right there in his hand.

He didn't usually like one-turn kills. They never really gave him that much fun, and he'd always liked enjoying his duels. But he knew very well where that had gotten him, so he decided to try something else: absolute power. Absolute destruction and domination.

"Well, are you going to do something else? I admit your monster there is pretty flashy, but can she get past my shield?" Illusion Snatch asked, a smirk twisting on his lips.

"Since you ask, yes," Juudai replied, "and it's thanks to you that she can."

"What?"

Juudai slipped one of his cards into his hand. "Because you just had to hit me with that direct damage, which puts my life points lower than yours. So, now I play Giant's Might, equipping it onto Evil Hero Inferno Wing, and doubling her attack!"

Illusion Snatch's eyes widened and he took a shifting step backward before he rallied himself. "I'll still have life points left. And I still have cards left."

Indeed he had cards; or card if one wished to be accurate. Two of his first cards had gone for the direct damage attack on Juudai, while the third, Double Summon, allowed Illusion Snatch to first summon a low level monster, then tribute it to call Millennium Shield to the field. Only one card remained in his hand, and while Juudai couldn't be certain of what it was, he really had no plans to let Illusion Snatch play it in the first place.

Juudai couldn't find it in himself to smile. What did he have to smile about? But there was satisfaction, nevertheless, as he made his move.

"Inferno Wing, attack his Millennium Shield. Inferno Blast!" Another spray of dark laughter echoed and she rose into the air, claws striking the defense monster and shattering it to pieces. Illusion Snatch covered his face with one hand as the shards blew past him.

"Is that all?"

"When Inferno Wing attacks a monster that's in defense mode, then you take the difference in her attack points and your monster's defense points as damage," Juudai told him. Inferno Wing's claws lifted and struck, slashing across Illusion Snatch's face and sending him stumbling backward. But Juudai wasn't done yet still. "And when Inferno Wing destroys a monster in battle and it goes to the cemetery, then the attack or defense points of that monster are also inflicted to you, whichever ends up being higher."

Millennium Shield had no attack points at all, but three thousand defense. Illusion Snatch had twenty-eight hundred life points to his name. With the satisfied command of "Hell Backfire!", those life points vanished into nothingness.

"No..." Illusion Snatch groped at the air, falling backwards, eyes far wider and in more shock than in all of his life. "How could you… who are you? Who _are_ you?"

Juudai took a step forward. Never before had he felt so cold or so empty inside. Being like this was strangely freeing. He didn't have to worry about anything at all, anything except for getting the results that he wanted. He _did_ worry about his friends who still roamed this land. They needed to be protected, so that they wouldn't go the way of the others.

So, it would be death. And destruction. And the savage, bloodthirsty rule of a conqueror that would protect them. Because he'd seen what had happened when he stayed soft and weak and tried to be a good guy. It _didn't work_. All it did was get his friends killed, and he'd had more than enough of that.

The thoughts slotted slowly into place, one by one. He'd thought them before in the last few days as he'd searched this world for any sign of anyone who was genuinely good, and as he'd searched for answers to the strangeness of his deck and the mysteries of Super Fusion.

He had those answers now. With Super Fusion he could rule this world, and he would rule this world in order to bring life to Super Fusion itself. His deck now reflected his own heart, enclosed in a deep shadow that he did not want lifted.

There wasn't anyone good in this world, no one worth saving or protecting aside from his own friends. For them, he would do this. For them, he would grow up and become the person that he should've been all along.

_They won't like it,_ he told himself. _They won't understand._ Shou already didn't. He'd seen that for himself. But it needed to be done even if they didn't. Perhaps once it was settled, they would find him and he could explain it to them then. They might even agree, once they saw how his rule would benefit this place. It would take so much effort, but what else was he going to do with his time? It wasn't as if he had homework anymore.

Illusion Snatch was no more, nothing but dust in the wind. He'd had his first true victory and the taste of it was sweet indeed.

The people of this village drew closer, each one nervous and on edge, staring at him. Then, starting with a Red Ace, each of them knelt down before him, whispering one single word. It took him a few moments to understand what that word was, but when he did, he could only nod.

Over and over it sounded, a litany that would not fade.

"Haou. Haou. Haou."

**To Be Continued**


	11. Benefits of Home

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX  
**Title:** Red To Black: Chapter 11: Benefits of Home  
**Characters:** Juudai  
**Word Count:** chapter: 1,071||story: 11,871  
**Genre:** Drama, Angst||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX Non-Flash Bingo; Diversity Challenge, section I, #19, chapters between 1000-2000 words  
**Notes:** This begins in episode 136, just after Jim and O'Brien leave to follow Shou. Juudai's mind did not fracture into Juudai &amp; Haou and this will be a retelling of how he came to power.  
**Summary:** Juudai's always won before and it always fixed everything. But now that he's won and it's fixed nothing, what can he do?

* * *

Juudai stared at the village spread out in front of them. Their warriors stood in a defensive line before the closed and locked doors, every one of them determined to sell their lives dearly to protect those hiding within.

He knew how that felt. If he thought they were good people he would never do this in the first place. But regardless of what they thought of themselves, he knew better. He wished sometimes they would just admit it to themselves. They could join his army then, and it would make everything that much better.

Until then, he had but one word to say to deal with this.

"Attack."

He didn't surge forward with the rest. He let his warriors handle it. If they had someone who could give him a challenge he would, but now he stood and watched as his army picked out their targets and battle began.

His army. He had an army. One that grew hour by hour as new warriors heard of what he was doing and came to offer their services. He'd already begun to choose people to work underneath him to manage what he couldn't. He needed to focus on finding the strongest souls that would go into Super Fusion. That didn't leave much time for planning other matters.

Hidden behind his helmet, one corner of his mouth quirked upward at the thought of what his teachers would've said in response to this. Chronos-sensei would likely have never believed he could do it. Daitoukuji-sensei...well, it was hard to say. He might've believed Juudai could. He'd always thought the best of him.

Though was this the best?

Yes. What else could it be? Juudai didn't let that thought stay around for another moment.

Two of his subordinates, Skull Bishop and Chaos Sorcerer, dragged a bulky warrior toward him. He didn't know who it was offhand; there were so many warriors and not all of them in this world were cards in his. But what mattered was what they said.

"Haou-sama, this is the one we told you of, the one who spread lies and rumors concerning you."

Juudai did not lift his helmet's visor but bent his gaze instead on the prisoner. He said nothing at all, but let the aura of his displeasure flame high.

"It's true! You're not a leader! You're not a king! You're only a child found his way here from another world!"

Still Juudai said nothing at all. He would not deny it; it was at least half-true. He was from another world, and he wasn't a legal adult as of yet, not by the standards of Earth. But he didn't think those standards applied anymore.

He tilted his head to catch another's eyes, and Guardian Baou stepped forward.

"Your will, Haou-sama?" The demon asked, testing the edge of his blade and eyeing the prisoner greedily.

"Duel him." This one wasn't good enough for him. Juudai could tell that already. His spirit might make a decent enough addition to Super Fusion, but the skill he required wasn't there.

Besides, his warriors needed to be tested frequently as well, and Guardian Baou hadn't fought nearly as often as the others had. Granted, there hadn't been that much time since he'd appointed the demon to his position. Time to watch and see what happened.

Chaos Sorcerer and Skull Bishop pulled the prisoner to one side, returning his deck and duel disk to him. Guardian Baou stepped up to his place, a savage grin twisting his features.

"I dedicate your death to Haou-sama's glory," he said, staring at his opponent.

The warrior tossed the restraining arms of his captors to the side and raised his head in defiance.

"And I dedicate _yours_ to the freedom of our village!"

All of the Death Duelists – Juudai thought that was a good name for them, they brought death at his command – laughed almost in unison.

"What village?" Skull Bishop gestured with one broad hand. Juudai hadn't taken much notice himself, but now he took in the burning of the palisade and huts, the slowly dying shrieks and cries of the defeated and captive, the stench that hung over every battlefield…

_I should find a place for us to live,_ he thought, ignoring the sounds and smells in favor of more immediate thoughts. _Somewhere where we can all rest after a day's work._

He would send out people later to look for somewhere. A castle, perhaps.

The warrior's face, drawn and pale, hardened into diamond determination. "You'll pay for this," he murmured, drawing his first set of cards. Again the Death Duelists snickered, but no one said anything else. The duel commanded everyone's eyes.

At least it did for the short time it lasted. Duels always seemed to take less time when one watched than when one participated, Juudai had noticed frequently. So while to Guardian Baou and the warrior, it had probably seemed like hours, to him and to everyone else, it took only a few minutes. That was really just as well; he didn't have time to waste on people who hardly knew what they were doing.

Baou won, of course. His fierce determination to bring honor to his master easily overpowered the warrior's struggles for revenge.

_Revenge is only for people who deserve it,_ Juudai thought, watching as the other's dust drifted away. He didn't know if he did or not, but he must've had something. All of this wouldn't have happened otherwise.

He gathered up his people and chose two of them who could fly. "We need a secure base. Find a castle or fortress that cannot be easily invaded." He didn't specify one that couldn't be invaded at all. That was likely not even possible. If someone _did_ try to invade, then he and his warriors would turn them back.

Until such a place could be found, he led his army away from the wreckage of the village and closer to the mountains where it was much more likely that anyone would try to attack them.

While his plans were moving ahead quite splendidly, he wanted a base for another reason. He needed a place where he could have a long talk with all of the members of his deck. While the Evil Heroes did quite well, and he didn't regret them joining at all, he wanted them to work with the Neo-Spacians as well. And that wouldn't happen without some negotiations.

**To Be Continued**


	12. Negotiations

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX  
**Title:** Red To Black: Chapter 12: Negotiations  
**Characters:** Juudai  
**Word Count:** chapter: 1,224||story: 13,095  
**Genre:** Drama, Angst||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX Non-Flash Bingo; Diversity Challenge, section I, #19, chapters between 1000-2000 words  
**Notes:** This begins in episode 136, just after Jim and O'Brien leave to follow Shou. Juudai's mind did not fracture into Juudai &amp; Haou and this will be a retelling of how he came to power.  
**Summary:** Juudai's always won before and it always fixed everything. But now that he's won and it's fixed nothing, what can he do?

* * *

Four cycles of the comet. That was how long it took before his scouts found a place suitable for his growing army. And grow it was; every day he saw new faces. Sometimes they weren't _new_, because he recognized them from having dueled for so many years. But here he saw them as living people for the first time.

Funny, he wouldn't have imagined that so many of them were the kind of being that would live in this world, where only those who deserved to die gathered. He heard rumors of others as well, tales of a Holy Elf here, whispers of a Wingweaver here, creatures of light and kindness that he'd always associated in his head with being good, and yet they lived in this world of shadows.

_Darkness isn't always evil,_ he tried to tell himself. _Remember what the Neo-Spacians said?_ He hadn't thought about that in months. He still didn't know what most of what Aqua Dolphin said had _meant_, and he was even less certain about what the Light of Ruin speaking through Saiou had said.

What he did know, without a doubt, was this Dark World was where he lived now, and he was going to kill everyone that he needed to in order to make certain his friends were all safe. He repeated that to himself more times than anything else. This was all for them. Just like defeating Brron. Sure, it hadn't brought them back, and this wouldn't either. But it needed to be done. Not for those who were gone, but for those who remained.

He hadn't spoken a word to anyone here about his friends. He knew Jim and O'Brien could handle themselves if anyone attacked them. So could Shou, for that matter.

_I wish I could see Shou duel here._ Being able to fight for his life would certainly improve Shou's opinion of himself, Juudai thought. Especially when he _won_. There was something very satisfying about staying alive against all the odds.

But Shou wasn't there and Juudai wasn't going to go looking for him. Shou wouldn't want to see him. Juudai would make a world safe for Shou to wander around in without him.

And to do that, he needed this castle, his army, and the part of his deck that wasn't co operating at the moment.

Moving in took very little time. Juudai didn't have anything that one could call luggage – at least not the physical kind – except his deck. His armor he wore constantly now whenever he was awake, and it remained as light to him as it had since it first came into being.

Underneath it he still wore his Osiris Red uniform. He needed some kind of padding, he guessed, to avoid rubbing his skin raw, and that did as well as anything else.

The comet's shadow fell over the world, bringing what passed for night here, and Juudai sat in the window of his personal quarters, his deck in his hands. He'd removed his armor for now, intending to get some rest after he'd sorted matters out with the Neo-Spacians. There were stains here and there on the uniform, he noticed. Maybe he'd think about getting this washed.

Another time. Now was for the Neo-Spacians.

"Aqua Dolphin," he called. "Black Panther. Air Hummingbird. Gran Mole. Glow Moss. Flare Scarab." Names that touched his tongue and set it afire, echoing along parts of his soul that he hadn't even dreamed existed a year or two ago. "Neos." The creatures that he'd drawn when he was a child, before he'd known _anything_ about what was to come.

They didn't come.

Not so much as a whisper. Nothing at all. If he hadn't known better, if he didn't live in a castle staffed by monsters, if he didn't lead an army of monsters, if he hadn't killed so many of them himself, he would've thought that what he held in his hands was nothing more than a _deck of cards_, not the tool of destruction and power that he knew it was.

"Neo-Spacians!" Juudai commanded.

They still didn't come.

His fingers tightened on the cards and his voice dropped low and sharp, losing what emotions he'd managed to drag up. "_Come here._"

And yet they did not. He called. He cajoled. He commanded. He demanded. And _nothing happened_.

Juudai refused to admit what the pricking in his eyes was.

_What did I do?_ They'd never failed to come to him before. They would frequently do so whether he called for them or not. Once, when he was home on the summer break, he'd woken up in the middle of the night to see Featherman, Air Hummingbird, and Hane Kuriboh seated together in his room, having a serious talk about proper feather care.

He hadn't asked why they had this talk in the middle of his room instead of in his deck. Some things even Juudai didn't want to know.

But they had never flat out refused to come when he'd called them before, and he didn't know why they had now.

"Featherman," he murmured, shoulders tense and his throat trying to close up. "Bubbleman. Burst Lady."

He swallowed, trying to say more names, to call more of his friends, only for the words to choke in his throat. _What if they don't..._

A hand rested on his shoulder and he looked up to see Burst Lady looking back at him. He thought she looked a little different, but couldn't place how. At the moment, he didn't care. He leaned in closer to her, aware at the same time that the other Elemental Heroes all stood around him.

"Kuri?" A familiar voice touched his ear and he turned to see Hane Kuriboh there. A tight wariness he hadn't even noticed eased at that and he held out one hand.

"Where are the Neo-Spacians?" he asked, stumbling over the words and the lump in his throat that hadn't eased as he spoke. "Why won't they come?"

"We don't know," Burst Lady replied, her voice soft and soothing, warm and caring. For the life of him, Juudai couldn't remember having heard her speak before. "They won't speak to us, either."

Juudai tightened his grip only for a heartbeat before the sight of his armor on its stand in the corner reminded him of who he was now. Haou did not seek comfort for others. Haou made others seek comfort _because_ of him.

He wiped his eyes. They didn't need it; there hadn't been anything in them. Certainly no tears. But he needed something to do with his hands. That was all.

He looked at the warriors of his deck. "You know why I'm doing this," he said, meeting each of their eyes in turn. "It's for the best." Why did those words taste so foul on his tongue? "I have to."

Sparkman nodded. "We trust you, Juudai. This isn't what we would've liked to have seen, but we trust you."

He wouldn't have liked it either. He wished that he could've stayed as he was, thinking that he could live his life without worrying about anything but having fun. But Satou-sensei had been right. He needed to learn to see the trash on the ground.

And it was time to take some of that trash out.

He removed the Neo-Spacians from his deck.

**To Be Continued**


	13. Behind The Shadows

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX  
**Title:** Red To Black: Chapter 13: Behind The Shadows  
**Characters:** Juudai  
**Word Count:** chapter: 1,141||story: 14,236  
**Genre:** Drama, Angst||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX Non-Flash Bingo; Diversity Challenge, section I, #19, chapters between 1000-2000 words  
**Notes:** This begins in episode 136, just after Jim and O'Brien leave to follow Shou. Juudai's mind did not fracture into Juudai &amp; Haou and this will be a retelling of how he came to power.  
**Summary:** Juudai's always won before and it always fixed everything. But now that he's won and it's fixed nothing, what can he do?

* * *

"Juudai? Juudai? _Juudai_!" Elemental Hero Neos pounded at the shadows wrapped around them all, but to no avail. Even all of his strength couldn't break through the darkness, not even the smallest bit.

Behind him, the other Neo-Spacians did their best, but to the same end: nothing at all. Neos rested a hand on the shadows, trying to get a taste of them.

He needed to know what had happened. It had all been very gradual, whatever 'it' was. A few bits of darkness here and there, but that was to be expected when they lived in Juudai's deck. He was who he was, after all, even if he didn't fully understand it as of yet.

_We should've told him._ The Neo-Spacians knew. They'd always known that they'd been created by Haou, the wielder of the Gentle Darkness. They hadn't known what form he'd taken in this life until Juudai arrived in Neo-Space, though.

Frankly, a brown-eyed, cheerful teenager hadn't been what any of them expected, but one look was all that they'd needed to know that was who he was: and that he had no idea.

Aqua Dolphin had hinted. Had told him a few things about being the incarnation of the Gentle Darkness and the endless war that raged against the Light of Ruin. But Juudai never seemed to take any of it that seriously, especially not once Saiou Takuma and the Society of Light were no longer an issue.

They should've told him. Perhaps everything that had happened now that Yubel was involved in wouldn't have. Or at least not to this extent. Or maybe Juudai would've understood himself enough to...to not fall as far as he had.

Neos didn't know. None of them did. All any of them could do was hope that somehow, in some way, Juudai would work through this and stop – stop everything, really.

He didn't know how it had happened. He'd tasted the growing grief inside of Juudai, as aware of it as all the Neo-Spacians were. He'd given them life. They were as much a part of him as his own power was. They _knew_ him. Or they knew who he'd been. The person that he was now, that was someone that they didn't know.

Neos hesitated on if he wanted to know that Juudai.

"Neos?" Air Hummingbird stood next to him, head tilting back and forth between Neos himself and the shadows that roiled and ghosted around them. "What do you know?"

Neos had no mouth. He could not smile, not even ruefully. But he wanted to, just for a few seconds. "Not as much as I would like about what has been going on. Juudai's called on his power, but it's not as it should be."

Air Hummingbird nodded; they'd all seen that, from that one moment when they'd fought against Brron. Neos didn't regret that fight for a moment. He would've destroyed Reign a thousand times over if it would've done any good.

"So what _is_ this?" Aqua Dolphin asked, moving closer from where he'd conducted his own examination of the shadows all around them. "It's not the Light." They'd tasted that to a tiny bit during the last battle against Saiou. Black Panther hadn't wanted to move from his bed for a week after that.

Neos stared at the walls of their prison once more. Upon further consideration of the matter, he thought he knew. He didn't want to be right, but he couldn't think of anything else that it could be. Even with Juudai's powers as barely awakened as they were, it wasn't easy to do anything at all like this to him. Not from the outside.

"I think it's Juudai. Or rather, his power." Neos brushed his fingers against the shadows and was not surprised to see them sink into it. He could pound on it all he wanted and it reacted like a wall. Reaching in gave a different effect, though one that was still as resistant to him passing through it as ever. "His power's grown stronger, but because he's using it for the wrong reasons, to hurt and kill others, it's blocking us off."

Murmurs of confusion echoed from the Neo-Spacians. Neos wasn't surprised. He hardly understood all of it himself. There were problems that came with being connected to something, but not having been told about it.

_Is this what Juudai feels like?_ Aware of his power to some extent, but not able to understand it completely, so he used it in the most haphazard and hamfisted way that he could, in the hopes that it would work out for the best.

That certainly sounded like the Juudai that they'd come to know. Most of the time it made him endearing, and his sheer stubbornness had used that part of him to bring him victory after victory.

"We're connected to his power," Glow Moss said, sounding the words out as if not completely certain if they were true. Neos nodded and the Neo-Spacian of Light continued. "But only when he's using it for the _right_ reasons."

"So until he knows and accepts that what he's doing now is wrong, there isn't any way that we can get to him," Gran Mole grumbled, sliding one claw across the ground before them. "And we can't even talk to the other Elemental Heroes, can we?" He cast a hope-filled glance up toward Neos.

Neos shook his head, but more to agree with what Gran Mole said than to indicate that they could. He straddled the line between the two groups, an Elemental Hero but one who partook of the power of the Gentle Darkness and could call the Neo-Spacians and bond to them. It gave him a lot of power, but it also meant he had equal vulnerabilities. Including being trapped in here with the Neo-Spacians.

Black Panther's tail lashed at lightning speed. "Is there anything that we _can_ do?"

"As soon as I know something, I'll let you all know," Neos promised. He stared back at the barrier, hoping somehow that he could get it to part, if only for a few seconds. Just something, anything that would give him a chance to speak to Juudai or the Elemental Heroes or anyone who could do something to get through to Juudai. He couldn't go on like this forever. Before the shadows tightened into a barrier, they'd all known his grief. He'd searched for so long for an answer, but the only ones found in this world of darkness were ones that made everything worse than they'd been before.

Unless somehow those of his friends who were still alive could find a way to get through to him, it looked as if Juudai might have to learn everything the hard way. And none of them could be certain if even he would survive that lesson.

**To Be Continued**


	14. His Place To Belong

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX  
**Title:** Red To Black: Chapter 14: His Place To Belong  
**Characters:** Juudai  
**Word Count:** chapter: 1,206||story: 15,442  
**Genre:** Drama, Angst||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX Non-Flash Bingo; Diversity Challenge, section I, #19, chapters between 1000-2000 words  
**Notes:** This begins in episode 136, just after Jim and O'Brien leave to follow Shou. Juudai's mind did not fracture into Juudai &amp; Haou and this will be a retelling of how he came to power.  
**Summary:** Juudai's always won before and it always fixed everything. But now that he's won and it's fixed nothing, what can he do?

* * *

Hane Kuriboh wanted to help Juudai. He _always_ wanted to help Juudai, from the first moment that he'd realized that this _was_ Juudai and pestered Yuugi to hand his card over. Sure, it had taken time for Juudai to be able to see him, and he'd always kind of wondered why, given the absolutely enormous amount of spiritual power that dripped from every part of the brunet. But he hadn't really fussed himself about it back then. Some people just took longer than others to wake up to the reality of the world around them.

But now he could guess on the actual reason. He still didn't know, but his guesses ran along the lines of 'something to do with Yubel'. He wasn't certain what he thought about the demonic being as of yet, but there was something about Yubel that rang strongly of the same spiritual power as Juudai, and that was _unusual_.

To say the least.

He'd never met anyone who rang of that power before. Just Juudai. And Yubel. The Neo-Spacians had it to a different degree, but it didn't emanate _from_ them the way it did from Juudai. Something was going on there that he didn't understand, and he wasn't going to go anywhere until he _did_ understand it.

Of course, he didn't even know if there was somewhere that he could go. He had many abilities, far more than what Juudai actually knew, and far more than what was written on his card text. But none of them included crossing dimensions on his own, not without a lot more help than he had at the moment. If he could find a door or a weak spot between worlds, then he could do it. But without that? It wouldn't work at all.

His powers also didn't include breaking through the strange barrier that kept Juudai from hearing or seeing or in any way speaking to the Neo-Spacians or them to him. And he _tried_. Oh, how he tried, battering himself to exhaustion against the barrier for long, untold hours.

He couldn't even bring himself to tell Juudai about the barrier, not until he could break it. That was for one simple reason: Juudai was the cause of the barrier. And right now, Hane Kuriboh knew one thing very well and that was that Juudai would not accept that he as the cause or that the way to break it would involve on some level accepting that what he was doing right now was very, very wrong.

Juudai didn't want to accept anything at the moment that didn't involve spinning Super Fusion into ever stronger life.

Hane Kuriboh didn't get to duel with him a whole lot now. Sure, Juudai hadn't taken his card out of his deck, and Hane Kuriboh made sure of that, mostly by appearing to Juudai and supporting him whenever he could. Juudai had to know that he hadn't been abandoned at all. But his card just never seemed to come up in duels anymore.

Or if it did, Juudai would likely not play it in favor of the Evil Heroes who formed the new backbone of his new, powerful, unrelenting, dangerous, and _evil_ strategies.

Hane Kuriboh on occasion wanted to batter Juudai upside the head with his wings. He'd done it before. But the last thing Juudai needed now was someone scolding him as if he were a petulant child, especially when that someone couldn't even properly explain what was going on. Doubly so when Juudai would not listen. At all. Trying to convince him of anything he didn't want to hear would not only be a waste of time, but it might even risk his life. If Hane Kuriboh knew for a fact that it would help, he would've taken the chance. But he didn't know. All he could do was hope, and that hope guttered and faded a little more with every passing moment.

It wasn't easy to kill spirits outside of dueling in this world, but Hane Kuriboh also knew that if Juudai were pushed too far, he could do it. And he _would_ do it in that case. So no matter how much he wanted to do otherwise, he couldn't. Juudai might regret what he did afterward, but it wouldn't change the fact that it had happened in the first place.

Other considerations kept him from battering at Juudai too much about what he was doing as well. If Juudai didn't need him in his deck, then Hane Kuriboh had something else that he could do, and he made certain to do it. So he spent a certain portion of his time searching for either Johan or the Gem Beasts.

He didn't believe they were dead. He didn't believe Johan was dead. For one thing, it was _Brron_ who'd said that, and while Juudai wasn't and hadn't been in any condition to question that fact too deeply, not with all the guilt hanging over him already, Hane Kuriboh thought differently. He wasn't going to take the word of someone like Brron.

So when he wasn't assuring Juudai by his presence that he still cared for him, Hane Kuriboh explored every inch of Brron's now-empty fortress, looking for any sign of Johan's presence, no matter how slim. A hint of his scent, the dust from his dis-belt, _anything_ at all, anything that would at least give a hint of evidence that Johan had been there at all.

And no matter how much he searched, no matter how closely he questioned those few who would admit to have been in the fortress at the proper time, he came up with absolutely nothing. No one had seen Johan at all. No one had dueled him. And in the end, that meant one and only one thing to Hane Kuriboh.

He didn't know where. He didn't know how. But Johan Andersen _wasn't dead_.

That he wanted to tell Juudai as well. But once again he still himself. With no more evidence to back it up than the _lack_ of evidence, it ran far too much of a risk of tripping Juudai's temper these days. Cold fury could kill as much as hot rage, if not more so. And if what Juudai did now wasn't an epic expression of overreaction, Hane Kuriboh didn't know what was.

So he waited. And watched. And saw things that he knew Juudai would want to know, but he didn't tell his partner of. He wanted to help Juudai in every way that he could and he knew by now the only real way to help him was to get him to see sense. He might not be able to do that himself, but perhaps there were others who could.

Perhaps Shou, donning a cloak and preparing to follow his big brother no matter what.

Perhaps Edo and Ryou, slowly gathering information about what was going on in this world.

Perhaps Jim and O'Brien, who had begun to search for Juudai and for Shou as well.

Perhaps they could do what he could not, and bring Juudai to his senses.

But regardless, he would stay by his partner, even if Juudai never drew his card or played it. Because that was where he belonged.

**To Be Continued**

**Note:** The next chapter is the last one.


	15. One At The Time

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.  
**Fandom:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX  
**Title:** Red To Black: Chapter 15: One At The Time  
**Characters:** Juudai  
**Word Count:** chapter: 1,053||story: 16,475  
**Genre:** Drama, Angst||**Rated:** PG-13  
**Challenge:** Yu-Gi-Oh GX Non-Flash Bingo; Diversity Challenge, section I, #19, chapters between 1000-2000 words  
**Notes:** This begins in episode 136, just after Jim and O'Brien leave to follow Shou. Juudai's mind did not fracture into Juudai &amp; Haou and this will be a retelling of how he came to power.  
**Summary:** Juudai's always won before and it always fixed everything. But now that he's won and it's fixed nothing, what can he do?

* * *

Haou did not have a throne. He didn't need one. Thrones were for people who sat around and did nothing all day. Haou had far too much to accomplish to sit around. He did have a chair that he used when he watched various members of his forces, and those who wished to join his forces, clash with one another. He was always careful with those battles, though. He didn't want anyone who was actually useful to have a bad day and end up dying. But these fights were also a good way to clear some of the useless dregs out.

They also improved Super Fusion, bit by little bit. He and Kozaky worked out that every soul that perished near the card could strengthen it, and the stronger the soul was, the more powerful the card grew.

The deaths of Asuka, Fubuki, Kenzan, and Manjoume had pushed Super Fusion near to completion on their own. Part of Haou could not help but be pleased that his friends proved to be so strong. Most of him hated the very thought and sought more deaths to make up for what had happened to them. That mantra rang over and over in his mind.

_This world is full of souls that deserve only death. There's no such thing as innocence here. If anyone were actually __**good**__ here, then they wouldn't let this happen._

And since the existence of evil continued, Juudai knew that good didn't. And even if it did, just looking at what was going on showed so clearly that being good didn't get _anything_ done. All being good had done was get the people he cared about killed.

So the other choice, the choice that he made, was obvious: he had to be evil. Being evil would give him Super Fusion. With Super Fusion, he could rule this world. If he ruled this world, then no one would ever harm anyone that he decreed off-limits ever again. They didn't have to be near him for that to work. His word would be obeyed no matter where in the world they were, once his armies marched into every corner of this world.

That would be soon. He kept careful track of everywhere that his rule extended, and he suspected that within a handful of days, if not sooner, he would have crushed the last of the resistance.

Resistance. Such a ridiculous thing to even think about. Couldn't these people see how much better everything would be once he took control? He could imagine only that they hadn't had the revelations that he had.

A small smile, hardly more than the tips of his lips turning upward, touched his features. Some of them had. He'd had to _explain_ his epiphany to them, but now they saw things his way.

They couldn't see it any other way. He wouldn't allow it.

He wondered if this was anything like what Saiou and the Light of Ruin had done with the Society of Light. He discarded the thought almost as soon as it crossed his mind. This was _entirely_ different.

_I'm not brainwashing them to adore me and destroy the world. I'm telling them the truth. This world, __**every**__ world, is just too full of people that deserve to die._ He counted them all as people, humans and spirits alike. There wasn't that much difference to them aside from shapes anyway. They were all evil. They were all worthless. They all needed to die.

He wished he'd figured this out sooner. Now that he'd seen the trash, as Satou-sensei put it, he couldn't stop himself from picking it up. And then putting in the trash can, or maybe the recycle bin. He liked the idea of recycling. Maybe he could get something good out of this if he tried hard enough.

Maybe. But he wasn't holding his breath on that.

He didn't have to persuade all of his troops. Some allied themselves with him out of a desire for power. He knew which ones those were, and he would kill them in due course as well. Working for him didn't give anyone any exemption for being killed.

And there was one who he did not have to persuade, and whom he knew full well would offer his life gratefully when the time came. He'd been more than a little surprised by the arising of Dark General Freed, but having a servant who served him _this_ loyally, even more so than the Death Duelists, proved far more useful than he'd ever imagined possible.

Everything was falling neatly into place. There were still a few rough spots here and there, places where he suspected rebels lurked to ambush his warriors whenever they had a chance, and until he knew exactly where Shou, Jim, and O'Brien were, he lived with the risk that someone would manage to kill them.

_Like Johan._ His heart twisted at the very thought. He couldn't handle that again. He _knew it_. They weren't that much different from others here; they probably had seeds of evil in them as well. Not very much, and he had a feeling they'd side with his enemies if they knew what he was doing. But until that happened, he would do all within his power to protect them.

He gazed out of the window at what was only a small portion of his army. Many more divisions marched elsewhere, bringing the various areas of the world under his control. He didn't have a completely accurate count of how many troops he commanded, but that was more because the number fluctuated on a daily basis than anything else.

_I wonder if I should send people to that hollow world and get Misawa to add it all up for me._ Again his lips moved, but it was even less of a smile than before. He would go there eventually. This Dark World was only the beginning. Jim, O'Brien, and Shou weren't his only friends. There were still all the people at Duel Academia: Principal Samejima, Tome-san, Rei-chan, Hell Kaiser, Edo, Saiou, and so many more.

He wanted to keep them all safe. And if that meant conquering every world there was, then he'd do it.

One step at a time. One world at a time.

He would succeed. Because he dared not fail.

**The End**

**Notes:** It is entirely possible this will be referred to in other fics of mine. I know that Dark General Freed being Haou's servant will. Anything more will show up in due time.


End file.
